Why we picked this name I will never know

Ikoku Meiro no Croisée Review

How sweet, i hate sweet, I NEED PHOTOS, PHOTOS OF SPIDERMAN!..err read the line below

Screw highschool, screw harems, screw the childhood friend who beats on guys, lets go to f*cking France and get some week-old French bread to beat them with it.

This series was delightfully charming and extremely laid back, which was the reason i didn’t watch it anytime earlier. In the first few weeks it came out, i was in summer and i wanted some action packed, harem, or whatever in the shows i watched (i got to an all guys school, and the sister school has noo good looking girls…).

Ikoku didn’t please me in the beginning but what did i REALLY expect Now that the season is almost over and school work gets piled up, i thought i COULD use a nice simple series that i didn’t need to pay attention (or too much attention) to plot line. I got exactly what i wanted this time, it was simple, fresh and it kinda got me as it portrays the same situation (although as not as extreme as a newcomer to a country or culture) I am in

Ikoku (as i will refer it to) is a small, simple tale of a young Japanese girl named Yune who comes to Paris to work at a smalltime shop with a guy named Claude. Claude’s grandfather, Oscar brought Yune with him in his many journies across the world. Obviously the culture shock is pretty big, the Japanese custom and French custom are as different as Korean customs and Mexican customs. So let me stop stating the obvious. Claude now must deal with the awkward and innocent girl who has no idea whats going on in France that now must be taken care of.

Characters

Yune: She’s 13 and she looks like a doll. Literally, i thought she would be a little bit taller but not THAT short. She looks like a 8 year old. Anyways, Yune is the adorable girl who comes to France to experience the world outside Japan. Being that her culture is so different than the French, she is guided by Oscar and Claude who help her understand the Parisan way of life. Yune in a way represents the force of change as she tries very hard to understand life in France.

Claude: Because the enviroment is not in Japan nor in a highschool setting, i particularly knew that i wouldn’t hate the dude. Claude is the young man who inherited Oscar’s shop. Claude is a pretty cool guy, he isn’t the most uptight guy but tries to make Yune comfortable in France. He in my opinion shows the passion of the “Old World”. He does not wish to succumb to the effect of modernism (such has huge corporate businesses taking down family owned trade shops).

Oscar: Oscar is Claude’s grandfather who acts as the old man who understands everything. Nothing too special about him.

Alice: Alice is like the 18th century otaku who absolutely LOVES Japanese culture. She freaks over anything of the East and absolutely adores Yune. She’s a rich and ecentric character who connects and parallels Yune a lot.

Camille: Alice’s sister who once had prior friendship with Claude. I liked her character a little bit, not as much as Yune and Claude. Due to her status as a high class family, she was unable to show her true feelings to Claude.

I will tell you this right now, do not expect too much from this show. When i first watched it, i didn’t really like it. Now that i watch it with zero expectations i loved it. The character of Yune was just fun to watch and Claude was a good character to go along with her. Yune had problems with her sister (nothing like rivalry but something sad) and Claude had problems with his father. It was a pretty interesting show even without me expecting anything. The show was just so innocently smooth and calm that it was probably a little bit better than the series that were out this season. Althought it’s kinda hard to stomache how small Yune is, it’s a small joyride through a unknown country. I have to mention that it is a breath of fresh air that we’re not in the highschool enviroment for once.

To wrap things up, the series has a lot of sweet and tender moments. It’s not really focused on plot, if anything it’s a character development series. The relationship between all the characters are pretty interesting and i definetly urge you: Don’t expect anything,” and watch this show.